Giants' World Series parade set for Wednesday

Orange and Black will be the predominant colors in fashion Wednesday, and not just because it's Halloween.

Giants fans, perhaps as many as 1 million, will line the streets of downtown San Francisco at 11 a.m. for a parade to celebrate their team's second World Series championship since 2010.

The parade starts at the foot of Market Street, at Steuart Street near the Ferry Building, and will head west down Market before veering right on McAllister Street and moving on to Civic Center Plaza. This is a shorter route than the one used in 2010. That parade began on Montgomery Street before heading down Market.

The parade leads to the victory celebration at Civic Center Plaza.

Fans are strongly urged to take public transportation. BART, Caltrain, Muni and ferries will add extra service Wednesday morning.

"We are expecting at least the crowds we saw back in 2010 that were pretty massive, somewhere around a million plus," said Mary Currie, spokeswoman with the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District. "With all the excitement, we expect to see the same or increased levels of interest in the parade and ceremonies."

BART will run on a rush-hour commute schedule all day from 4 a.m. until the last train, BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost said. All trains will be in service and added staff and police will be helping with crowd control, she said.

"We ask people to be patient, be courteous and get a round-trip ticket today," Trost said.

At the 2010 Giants World Series parade, BART set a one-day ridership record of 522,200, causing long lines at ticket booths and cramped train rides.

Trost also recommended finding alternatives to parking at BART lots, as they are expected to be filled to capacity by commuters early Wednesday.

"We will be strictly enforcing parking rules," she said. "And if you're a daily commuter, you want to avoid the peak hours."

The parade also coincides with Halloween, another big BART day, as revelers head into San Francisco at night.

Trost reminded passengers that the last train out of San Francisco to the East Bay leaves the Embarcadero station at 12:30 a.m. Thursday.

The weather forecast, according to the National Weather Service, calls for mostly cloudy conditions during the day with temperatures around 65 degrees. Rain is not expected until Wednesday night.

For those who cannot make it to the parade in person, it will be televised live by the ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox local network affiliates, KRON 4 and Comcast SportsNet Bay Area.